A wet season trip to Ko Kong

alexuk

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2011
I finally escaped from thailand back to cambodia. I had a few things to do in Phnom Penh and the weather was not good so I waited until it seemed like it would be dry and picked up an XR250 from Flying Bikes to ride down to Junglecross in Ko Kong. I had an accident and leg surgery a couple of months before so was quite restricted in how I can ride or walk.
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I stayed near Central Market, $10 for fan/$15 aircon, close to the popular bars like Walkabout, Heart of Darkness etc,on 51st/Pasteur, so a fair choice of eating and ways to spend the evenings.

The main highway to Sihanoukville was the same as 2 years back,a 2 lane road, mostly straight, with many big lorries and everything else on the way to the port, so there is a lot of overtaking, bigger vehicles just pullout and expect oncoming scooters etc to dive into the dirt lane at the side of the road.
It was dry and took 2 hours or so to get down to the turn off route 48 to Ko Kong, I could see rain clouds ahead and decided not to ride to the coast for a rainy weekend. I filled up at the large gas station in Sre Ambel,as it was 144km on 48 to Ko Kong. That's a nice scenic road, over a couple of big rivers and some wild countryside with fantastic views and few settlements, a lot of potholes but no problem to avoid them on an XR. It started to rain as soon as I left the Route 4 and just got worse.
There were a couple of macaques on the road eating some fruit.
I put on all my clothes and had a rain jacket but was soon soaked and cold by the time I got to Ko Kong about 3hours later and I just wanted to dry out and get warm. I crossed the big toll bridge on the road to the thai border and stopped off to see Nick at Junglecross and had some tea and hot food(!!)then rode back across the bridge into town and got a room near the river for $7.
Well it rained all day and all night and all day and I had a cold and needed to stay in bed mostly.After 3 days it didnt look any better so I headed back to Phnom Penh in a minibus.
It took a few more days in PP before I got a minibus to Sihanoukville and stayed by the beach, eating sea fish at the beach bbqs and restaurants, snapper, tuna, barracuda, grouper etc.and taking a motodop or bicycle down to Otres beach.
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There are loads of places to stay by Ochatuel beach, I paid $8 a day iirc, about 300metres up the hill from the beach, for a fan room, and it wasnt warm enough for aircon.
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There were some supermarkets in Sihanoukville, but it being low season, they didn't stock much.Like one advertising 75 differnt beers, only had a few local beers there. It was still a bit wet most days and I specifically booked a minibus to Ko Kong, but I got scammed as it turned out to be a big bus up to the R48 turnoff, then waited 20 minutes for transfer to a smaller bus to Ko Kong.
Nick @Junglecross unfortunately was sick in bed and had a couple of bikes in the workshop, and others rented out, and I went to look at some hire XR250s at a garage in the town @$30/day, but they were horrible deathtraps, brake pads worn to the bone, steering bearings shot, forkseals gone, worn tyres etc, but the worst thing was underneath, you can see where the frame has been bashed away so only half a tube was left, and the bike was held together by the engine bolts.
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I hired an automatic scooter somewhere else,$5 for the afternoon, and went out to Tatai waterfall with a guy on one of Junglecross XRs.It was a sunny afternoon for a change so we rode out scenic back lanes onto the 48 then 20km out to Tatai bridge and had a look at the river,there are boats available to go up and down river.
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So then back a km or 2 to the dirtrack turn off for the waterfalls. Down there a little way was a hut where they charged us a dollar to see the falls. Ripoff!!
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It says one km from there to the falls but it seems like two. You need a dirtbike or maybe a manual scooter or walk that bit.It was very nice, noone there, lots of water, I'd like to go back for an afternoon, but the sky was threatening heavy rain and I didnt want to get stuck out there with my bad leg so rushed back to the road.
We made plans to go to a big waterfall the next sunny day, on dirtbikes.


I picked up a DR250 from Junglecross,the same one I rode across the cardamom mountains 6 years ago,and George got another XR250, but it was after lunch by the time we ate and left town.
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The track was the new chinese road up to Pursat,the start is the same road across the mountains,stupendous views down to the sea on the left side, and the road becomes concrete on one side, but changes over,so the big trucks come along on concrete, changing sides, and you often just have to rideoff into the dirt side when they're coming the other way whichever side you're on. There were only one or two trucks that day,and we kept riding for 2 or 3 hours, past the old road/track, and past a couple of large chinese dams, one still under construction.
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The rain started and we carried on a few kms to reach a shack we could shelter in and grab a drink. It was pouring down and we were both drenched, a big thunder and lightning storm,no sign of it stopping and I thought we might be staying the night in this shack in the middle of nowhere. I had only light clothes on. An hour later it packed up so we went to find the waterfall
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George remembered the way, but hadnt seen it with so much water. We parked the bikes and climbed down the embankment 6metres to the top of the falls, and wandered up to the edge. It's a long way down, and no way to get back up. He went off to find a way to the best viewpoint crossing the channels flowing over the edge.
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After he got some fotos, he tried to get back but the water was higher, and it took a while to find his way back across.Maybe five minutes later he would've been stuck there.
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We took more fotos then went on a few kms to a gas drum in a small workers camp before heading back to Ko Kong through more rain and it was getting dark half an hour before we made it.
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Nice report Alex, That waterfall is spectacular. Suzuki DR 250 I wonder how it stacks up against the trusty XR 250? How enjoyable did you find the riding there v's say Laos?
 
Good to see rainy season pics of that waterfall, and that it has survived amidst the surrounding development.
 
The DR seems as good as the XR, some were fitted with a Mikuni pumper carb, so go quite well. I wasn't recovered enough to try racing it t hough, and stuck to easy trail, this one road, and so can't compare it . Although this road was built for access to the chinese damns so it's in good shape.
I hope the waterfall will remain accessible to the public, though it was fenced off before.
Tarantula seller at Central market Phnom Penh
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Flying Bikes 2 bicycle shop has moved Phnom Penh
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Tourist Police bikes at Occhateul beach, Sihanoukville
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Otres beach Sihanoukville
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Junglecross bikes in Ko Kong
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Koh Kong Casino
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The lower chinese damn, still under construction
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More fotos when I find them
 
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